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Singapore UK and Europe 2019

settembre - dicembre 2019
Un’avventura di 105 giorni di MF's travel blog Leggi altro
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  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Zagreb to Velenje

    31 ottobre 2019, Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    We’re off to Slovenia. I had told Anne this is probably the most picturesque country in Europe so, hopefully, it doesn’t let me down.

    We walked to the car park (about 500 metres away) in the rain,and about 6 degrees, so not a good start - a coffee/hot chocolate on the way helped a bit. For a change we got out of the city okay and headed on back roads towards Slovenia. When you put into the GPS “no tolls and no motorways” sometimes it takes you through some country one lane roads that has locals, on tractors, wondering what you are doing out there (if the looks on their faces is anything to go by).

    As we got closer to the border, I told Anne that the roads had a very familiar feel about them from my motorbike trip of 3 years ago (actually I think I saw the same confused 🤷‍♂️ tractor driver back then). I said to Anne won’t it be funny if we have the same trouble, I had back then, getting across the border. Sure enough, when we got to the border and stopped, I said to the guard “we can cross here?” He nodded yes. Handed over our passports and as soon as he saw “Australia” he changed his mind to a no. Unfortunately the crossing was only for “locals” from both sides and not for anyone else. He told us we would have to go to the border crossing at Kumrovec. I asked him nicely and he put it into the GPS. A female guard came out an instructed us to drive through into Slovenia, to turnaround, and then go back into Croatia. She kept our passports to make sure we did! I swear it was the same woman that made me do the same thing when I was as last here on the bike. Anne was only slightly amused - she reckons a third time and they’ll lock me up for a while. At least this time I had the right border crossing in the GPS and it was easy to find. 3 years ago they gave me a very bad mud map (because I couldn’t understand their instructions) and I had to stop 3 or 4 times to ask for help (from confused guys on tractors).

    We finally crossed the border, the rain pretty much stopped and the country opened up into beautiful green rolling hills, and majestic mountains, dotted with picture-perfect villages. The road was fantastic to drive (I remembered how much fun it was on the bike). Anne agreed - prettiest country we’ve seen so far.

    We got to Velenje (a small city) and checked in before heading out for lunch and a look around.

    We walked up the hill to the Valenje Castle. It was a bit of a steep climb but well worth the hike. The castle was built in 1270 and is now well preserved as a museum. Some fantastic views from there as well.

    A rest tonight then we’ll (try) to cross the border into Austria tomorrow.    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Velenge to Villach

    1 novembre 2019, Austria ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    We're heading into back to Austria after a great breakfast - lots of variety and as much as you can eat (lucky I have the ability to fill up for the day ahead).

    I've been meaning to mention the long, long street names found in some European cities (particular in Eastern European countries such as Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia amongst others). Streets are often named after famous people or politicians etc. Street names like "Zygmunta Krasinskiego Ulica" or "Avenjia Marina Drzica Ulice". Whilst the names might be long (and take a while to say) the streets themselves might be quite short. The problem this presents, when using a GPS, is that by the time the GPS finishes telling you to turn right into "Avenjia Marina Drzica Ulice"", you've actually driven past!!!! The GPS will re-route, but it keeps happening over and over again.

    Slovenia is a small country, but what it lacks in size it makes up in scenery and fantastic roads. We were back into Austria pretty quickly .

    We got to Villach and tried to drive to the hotel which unfortunately (again) located in pedestrian only area in the "old town". Anne tried to convince me to drive down an ever narrowing laneway that lead to the square - thankfully I resisted, the other end was far too skinny for any car. I had only just finished telling her the story of the guy who followed his GPS into a mine shaft and got stuck!! I think we would have had to change our hotel stay from one night to the rest of our lives. Having said that the car would have been parked only about 50 metres from the hotel so it would have been a short walk after we got out of the boot as there would have been no way to open the doors. We found a park, walked to the hotel and got directions on how to get to the court-yard at the back. We did eventually manage to find our way, but I'm pretty sure, from some of the looks we got, we drove the wrong way up some very narrow streets and some footpaths as well. Staying in the middle has a lot of advantages as far as sight seeing, restaurants and people watching,but it is hell on the nervous system😨. We had lunch after booking in - first time in a while I was tempted to have a very large whiskey (to calm the nerves) but I resisted.

    It's a very quiet day due to the "All Saints day" holiday. So hardly anything open. As much as I hate to admit it, we ate at Austria's version of Kentucky Fried Chicken. At least we had a more traditional dinner at the hotel restaurant (though after we did walk down to McDonalds so I could have a sundae - the shame of it all).

    Tomorrow we head into Verona Italy - hopefully my Italian will be as good as I hope it is (I've had a few embarrassments in Italy before😊).    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Villach to Verona

    2 novembre 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Breakfast and headed off, towards Verona (Italy) about 10 am. The drive out of the town wasn't quite as hard as the drive in, but I'm pretty sure we did find a one-way street to drive up the wrong way. Lucky it's Sunday and still pretty quiet. As Anne said "no one got hurt".

    We took the autostrada on a very wet rainy and cold day - I guess it had to happen sooner or later. The drive through the mountains into Italy was beautiful despite the weather. You don't go over or around the mountains so much as through them. There were impressive tunnels after impressive tunnels. Between the rain and wet weather there were a few stretches of road that were between 50kms and 80kms speed limits. This didn't seem to register with any other car on the road. The autostrada has a maximum speed limit of 130kph in dry clear conditions. I think most of the other drivers took the 130kph as the the minimum speed in any weather/road condition. I was overtaken (despite exceeding the speed limit) by every other car on the road. We saw a couple of motorbikes on the road and caught up with them when we stopped a roadside cafe - they said the rain/wet was just bearable, but the cold (wind chill well and truly below zero) was just terrible. Here I was missing going for a ride🙃.

    Italy is a fantastic place (I may be slightly biased), but it does have its quirks and issues (like other places). When we stopped at the roadside cafe (part of a service station) a beggar (older woman) asked for some money for food - unfortunately you just can't afford to give to everyone who asks (and we have given a fair bit while travelling around as homelessness is everywhere - like at home but maybe more obvious). When we parked I noticed that a lot of the individual car parks had signs saying webcams were available - I though wow that's modern without thinking why. It was only when we got inside that I saw signs explaining how to download a smart phone app that let you keep an eye on your car while you are inside - just in case someone was trying to break into you vehicle. The homeless at least ask, these buggers just go straight to the taking.

    We missed a turn but finally got to Verona around 2.30pm and booked in. Still cold and drizzling but, without complaining,started some sight seeing. I know it seems as if we visit a lot of churches, but they do tend to be amongst the most magnificent of buildings each with their own history and full of wonderful paintings, sculptures and artifacts. They really are museums and windows to the past. I'm really not very religious so apart from funerals and weddings, really the only time you'll find me in one. The Basilica of San Zeno (over a 1000 years old) didn't let us down. The walk around gave us an idea of what to do/see tomorrow as we're staying for a couple of nights.

    About 5 pm (now raining properly) we started to head back to the hotel and dropped into a market on the way to get some food/drink for the night. It was a pretty big supermarket (the amount of fresh food compared to supermarkets back home is amazing - people tend to shop only for a day or two and mostly eat fresh). We walked into a sort of "anti room" before you walked into the store proper. Our umbrellas were wet so I convinced Anne to leave them in the foyer in front of the shop (along with a panini I was going to throw a way). Cut a long story short someone stole the umbrellas but left the bread - pity the store didn't have umbrella webcams😩. It was raining pretty heavy and we had a way to walk so Anne went back in, and €20 later we were on our way. Anne has been keeping a running tab of our spending - she put the €20 under a new category called "Stupid" (with the note in brackets "Maurice" that I think is a bit harsh). We now have bright orange umbrellas that makes us look like walking tour guides (I wondered why we had a bunch of Japanese tourists followed us back to the hotel 😆).

    Tomorrow a full day exploring Verona.    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019
    1

    A full day in Verona

    3 novembre 2019, Italia ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Another rainy cold day but after breakfast we grabbed our umbrellas and set off. We found the "Arena Di Verona" a beautiful Romania Amphitheatre built in the first century and seats over 20,000 . It was so well built it's still used today for rock concerts, operas and plays. It was wet and cold but I guess added to the atmosphere. It usually costs £10 to get in, but it was only £1 because of the rain.

    Italy really is a wonderful place, but it is full of rip-offs. As we left a couple of guys, dressed as Roman soldiers, were getting tourists to have their photos taken with them. I somehow ended up getting mine (Anne took the photo) but then the fix comes in and they want to get paid - all I'll say is I ended up £20 poorer😢. At least with pickpockets you don't know it's happened until later. I'm still pissed-off about it!!

    Despite the hassle, Verona really is a gem.    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Verona to Bergamo

    4 novembre 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    It’s only a 2 hour drive and it’s sunny - a nice day for a drive in the countryside. We’re staying off the toll roads so should see some nice scenery with any luck. We’ve seen our first sight of snow, albeit on top of a far off mountain - I have a feeling we’ll see more by the end of this trip.

    Got to the hotel early (about 12.30pm) and luckily we got to check in without having to wait. The hotel is great and after dropping our stuff off we headed out to eat and explore.

    Like a lot of Italian cities/towns that are built on a hill/mountain there is an “alto” (high) part of the city and “basso” (low) part of the city. We caught the finoculare (a type of cable car for steep inclines) to the alto and the citadel. You would think that sooner or later you would get tired of looking through cathedrals and churches, but each one is different with their own histories - we looked through a few more. Besides they’re cheaper than museums and sometimes you get bread and wine thrown in 😁. Late afternoon and we were going to walk back down but the funiculars was only £1.30 so we rode back. We saw the worlds smallest car!!!!

    Light dinner then turn-in.    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Bergamo to Castell'Alfero

    5 novembre 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    I’ve really been looking forward to this part of the trip - we’re off to Piedmont. This region is in the northern part of Italy (think Turin and the Olympic Winter Games of 2006). My mum and dad were born here in little rural/rustic villages (all cobblestone streets, terracotta tiles and washing hanging outside windows). We booked a little apartment next to an old castle in a small, very old, hilltop town called Castell’Alfero (near Asti - I’m sure many of you would have, in your youth, drunk too much Asti Spumante). It should also be a nice drive through Piedmont - in Italy Piedmont is as famous for wine as Tuscany is, and more famous for food (home of Nutella for a start!!). It’s just that the Italians want to keep it a secret for themselves.

    Before heading off we had breakfast at a close-by cafe, thought we’d have something traditionally Italian like bacon and egg sandwiches. We didn’t get what you would get at home. Instead we got two pieces of un-toasted bread with pancetta and fried eggs on top, some greens and tomato. Not bad, if only they supplied cutlery!!!

    We had a bit of a hiccup with our navigation and ended up going through the middle of Milan. There’s Italian traffic, and then there’s Milan traffic. We ended up doing some pretty radical turns and crossing lanes but eventually we got out of Dodge. After this the drive is pretty normal, but once you hit the hills of Piedmont it’s just plain beautiful. Rolling green hills with small towns throughout the valleys. But, most spectacular, almost every hill has a castle or church sitting atop with a village rolling down the side - it’s hard to keep an eye on the road.

    We arrived at Castell’Alfero early/mid afternoon after a drive up the hill towards the castle. The road has signs showing you must carry snow chains between November and April. It’s cold, but not that cold yet. The village looks like it hasn’t changed in hundreds of years. The castle itself is thought to be about a 1,000 years old - most of the people who live here look old enough to have been there when the foundation stone was laid 😛. Anne and I definitely brought down the average age of the town population!!!.

    The apartment we booked for 6 nights is 3-stories (tall but reasonably narrow). It’s on a one-way cobbled street. We’re living in Italy!!!!! Anne unpacked while I had a walk through the village and used a couple of locals to try out my Piedmontese (local dialect of the region and quite different/seperate to Italian - I t’s actually so different that UNESCO has classified it as a language). Let’s just say I did okay but maybe there was a smattering of both Italian and English words thrown in - when in doubt add an “A” or an “O” to the end of an English word and it sounds Italian, even if it makes no sense.

    During the next few days we get to start exploring and visit the birth places of my mum and dad (Sala and Cereseto - see what I mean by the “O” and “A”).

    More tomorrow.    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Castell'Alfero Day 1

    6 novembre 2019, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Breakfast then a walk up to the the “Osteria” (a type cafe/restaurant) for Anne’s early morning coffee (no hot chocolate so I had to have a tea). These are great little places where the locals turn up for a quick coffee pick me up. They often shut for a couple of hours, from late morning, before reopening in the afternoon - this place also does dinners so I booked for Friday night.

    After coffee we set off Cereseto, a little very old village where mum was born (for years we thought it was Ottiglio, but this is where the family moved soon after). We got to the village and found the Municipal Office - there really isn’t any much else there.

    We told the guy behind the counter why we were there. He disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a large very old birth register. He flipped through a few pages and quickly found mum’s birth registration - it was a lot quicker and easier than I thought it would be. We took photos of the record (and I almost immediately sent a copy to my sister Mary). There’s the usual information including about parents etc. - it really was terrific and I’m pretty sure mum would/is be happy 😃 too. We had a good walk around Cereseto with its tiny streets. It’s small but beautiful.

    After Cereseto we headed off to Sala to see if we could get birth records for my dad. We found the Municipal Office but the woman behind the counter was about to close up and the office doesn’t reopen until Friday (I told you it was small). We had a walk around Sala to have a good look around and had a quick chat to a local (an elderly lady) and the conversation went a bit liked this:
    Her - “where are you from?”
    Me - “Australia”
    Her - “I went to Austria once”
    Me - “nice but we’re from Australia”
    Her - “If I wasn’t so old I’d go back to Austria for another visit”
    Me - “no I’m from Australia not Austria”
    Her - “I know but I like Austria”
    Me - “nice talking to you bye”

    She also mentioned that there are more dead people in the cemetery than live people in the houses!!!!!! I wonder how many of them (dead or alive have been to Austria- probably not many to Australia).

    Anne and I found the cemetery (it is pretty big and I wouldn’t be surprised if the old lady was right) and had a look to see if we could find any of my family. Anne found a grave with a picture of a woman that she thought had a Francia family resemblance and we took a photo. We found out later she was right, it was my grandmother!!!

    We went for a drive to Ottiglio where mum grew up and I think we found the building where mum and her family lived (residence above a small shop they owned).

    After Ottiglio we set off to Asti for a look around and Anne found a street market. Being the wonderful person I am, I followed her through the about 75 stores where she bought one coin purse🤷‍♂️.

    A gelato later we headed back to Castell’Alfero. Before dinner we had an evening walk around the village.    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Castello'Alfero Day 2

    7 novembre 2019, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    It was supposed to rain today so we were going to have a lazy restful day (we’ve been on the go for over 2 months now). But, it’s not raining so out we go !!!! Had to drop in to our local cafe so Anne can have her morning coffee hit before a walk around the the “bottom of the hill” part of town.

    Ended up at the town of Moncalvo where we had lunch at a restaurant that was recommended to us as having very good Piemontese cuisine. From the outside it’s just a door in a building - I wasn’t even sure if it was open. We went through, and like a lot of these places, all the action was “out the back”. It’s a set menu with a small selection of antipasti, small selection of first and second plates and then a desert selection. The meal was fantastic, I had agnolotti (a local version of ravioli) and it tasted just like my mum used to make - perfect. By the time we left the place was packed (50 plus people) on a Thursday.

    After taking a few phots of Castell’Alfero we did end up have a lazy afternoon back at the apartment. The photos will show you how pretty the town and area are - tomorrow will head back to Sala and see if we can get my Dad’s birth information.    Leggi altro

  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Castell’Alfero Day 3

    8 novembre 2019, Italia ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Off today (without time for Anne’s coffee hit - she is going to go through withdrawal 😛) to Sala to see if we can get my dad’s records. The woman at the office was really helpful and we soon had a copy of the birth registration details. She then asked us if we wanted to see something interesting - of course!!!

    We followed her downstairs to a large underground round shaped room (made of old brick) with a chute to the outside at the top. Have a guess what this was used for? Before the days of electricity and freezers/fridges, people would harvest ice from high up in the mountains and cart it back to be stored for sale to the local town’s people. Workers would go down into the room and chop of hunks of ice to be hand winched to the top. As the ice was sold it was replenished.

    We headed off to the town of Casala Monferrato to do some laundry - there’s no end to the excitement. I even managed to help some locals out by showing them how to use the machines (even though we hadn’t read the instructions and there was twice the amount of detergent you are supposed to use in our machines and we now smell like a walking soap factory!!!).

    I also let them know they weren’t allowed to wash their horses, dogs or cats in the machines. They looked at me as if I was some sort of idiot (so did Anne when I mentioned to her what I’d said to them). I said “well have a look at the instructions on the machine, it’s even illustrated to make sure there is no misunderstanding”. See the photo below if you don’t believe me😛).

    Headed off to visit the city of Alessandria before going home. We had a coffee here, and a cannoli that tasted the same as a type of zabaglione we used to make as kids after school.

    Tomorrow we’re visiting some of my cousins - looking forward to seeing them (Anne and I actually visited them about 13 yeas ago when we were here).    Leggi altro

  • ViaggiatoreSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Castell'Alfero Day 4

    9 novembre 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Today we’re off to the town of Pontestura to spend a couple of hours, over a coffee, with some relatives. We got to Antonella’s place around 10 am. When I rang her, a couple of days ago to arrange, she asked if we wanted to stay for lunch. I had said we were a bit short on time and a morning coffee would be best. Her mum, brother and a couple of other cousins were there to see the relatives from Australia. It was a really good visit and we got to talk about family etc. Morning tea (sweet breads, biscuits, pastries, cheese, 5 types of ham and a heap of other food) would have fed a small army. We were still there talking and eating at 1.30 that afternoon - Italians are extremely welcoming (and in reality got us for lunch!!!!!!!!!). We were told the story of when my mum and Belinda (my niece) visited a few years ago. They toured Turin and the area showing them around and eventually ran out of sights to see. Not wanting to end the tripping around, and a bit desperate for what else to show them, they took my niece and my mum to the “red light” district in Turin. Apparently Antonella’s mum was horrified, but my mum enjoyed it (though she never told us about it when she got home 😛).

    For dinner we walked to the Osteria for some local cuisine. Mum and daughter cook and dad is the waiter and runs the bar - the place is what you would imagine a little family run Italian restaurant would be like.You get a small choice of appetisers, first plates, second plates and desserts all on a hand written menu. I had 4 dishes and whist Anne only had 3, she made up for that with a copious amount of wines and two moscatos (the walk back down the hill was quite an adventure for her). The dinner, in a building that used to be a horse stable (which in the middle of the dinning room floor was still the old water-well that was now covered with strong glass you could walk on) was really very very good. The atmosphere, service and food is what you would expect at a very classy ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ restaurant.

    A really enjoyable day.    Leggi altro